Saturday, March 30, 2019

Spokesperson - Snippet from TRAPPED for #WeWriWa #SciFiRom



Welcome to another Sunday with Weekend Writing Warriors. Meet writers in various genres and read 8-10 sentence snippets of their stories. Find a new author and sample their work. Enjoy!

I’m continuing my new story, Trapped on Vkani, book 3 in my series Atrapako on Eden. You can read about the planets and their inhabitants in my Blog Post HERE.

Maya and her team had planned to explore the ruins of an ancient civilization in the radioactive Deadlands of Vkani. But a sandstorm buried their shuttle under a thick layer of sand, and they had to dig to the surface to call for help. Maya was pulled out of the sand by a blue scaled alien with curved claws. Jack, is dead, but the two other members of her team are alive.  

Some people were confused about the colors. Blue scales indicate a leader. Greens have technical skills, massively built Reds are laborers and warriors. Everyone else has Yellow scales.


The snippet ended with the blue scaled alien asking Maya, “Was he your Blue?”  I’ve skipped a few lines, and re-punctuated to fit.

     She glanced at her friends. Their wrists and ankles had been tied, and the Red loomed over them; Felix glared, while Hong whimpered. They were out of action, and she had become the spokesperson for the team; she must do her best to placate the Blue leader and keep her team alive.
     Facing the Blue, she straightened and said, “My name is Maya Pandita; I am the leader of this expedition to study the ancient cities in the Deadlands.”
     “Green or Blue?”
     “We do not have those terms.” Hesitantly, she asked, “What is your name?”
     “Sa Vittaran Viktu.”
      Male, she deduced, and made a mental correction. His cloak had given no hint of his gender, while hers was obvious even under the padded suit.


 Trapped

Marooned on a desolate planet, joining forces with the enemy is their only hope.
     Maya Pandita spent years preparing for an expedition to the Deadlands. But her dreams of unearthing ancient artifacts are shattered when her shuttle is buried by a violent sandstorm, and her team is abducted by the scaled inhabitants of the planet. Maya and her companions must try to outwit their blue captor and call for help before they die in the toxic atmosphere.
     Sa Vittaran has a problem in his claws. Along with treasures from the ruins, he has retrieved three smooth-skinned foreigners. They will die if he leaves them in the desert. He cannot leave them to die in the desert. Yet the puny creatures have little value as workers, except perhaps for the impudent woman who claims to be their leader. Her knowledge of the ancient script will be an asset if she can survive the long trek to his house. 
     An attack by marauders forces Maya and the Blue leader into a wary alliance. They must work together to thwart the bandits and reunite their company. Can Maya convince Sa Vittaran to help her team? If she fails, they are doomed to a short unpleasant life on the desolate, war-torn planet.



 Lady

The first book in this series 
SciFi Romance. Feisty scientist solves puzzle of scaly aliens. 
Final day at 99c


As always, I’ll be happy to reply to your comments.  
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20 comments:

  1. A good thing she knows about their culture, but will the locals be as accepting of their differences? Nice snippet!

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    1. She prepared well for her expedition. The locals are confused. This Blue is quite bright, but he isn't psychologically prepared for "colorblind" people.

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  2. She may think her sex is obvious, but would it be obvious to Sa Vittaran? Or has she established that he knows about humans?

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    1. He knows enough. The "aliens" are not too different under their scales!

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  3. More colours. Interesting. I liked that last line.

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    1. Thank you. The right colors are important in this alien society. He is confused. Even though he may understand intellectually, subconsciously he is always trying to fit her into a neat color slot - Blue or Green.

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  4. At least she's starting to think about the cultural differences and talk & act accordingly.

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  5. I hope he can absorb the fact not everyone lives by the color code he knows. As always, love your details! Great snippet, full of menace...

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    1. This confusion will continue. He keeps trying to pigeonhole into a Blue or Green class.

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  6. Sounds like a tense situation! :D

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    1. Oh yes. She and her team are effectively trapped since the Blue isn't about to let them use their coms to call for help.

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  7. I hope he can accept her customs the way she accepts his. The colors would be confusing to me if you hadn't explained it. Thanks.

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    1. She will have to accommodate to their customs since it is their land.

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  8. Colors would be confusing if you'd grown up somewhere else. They're in a sticky situation here.

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  9. I look forward to learning what all those colors mean in his culture. Great world building.

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  10. The alien is sure set on trying to put her in a label. I wonder if that's just for him to understand, or if he's too simple minded to see her any other way. Somehow I think it's more of the former since he told her his name.

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    1. In his society, color classes are important and well-defined. He's not stupid. He understands she is different, but he must work to overcome his rigid cultural assumptions.

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